EDITORIAL. 305 



Other institutions offer such fellowships for graduate students only. 

 The value of this method in attracting workers is proving quite im- 

 portant. It enables the prospective employee to get a deeper insight 

 into the spirit of research, and kindles an interest and a desire which 

 are not aroused in the ordinary course of instruction. The acquiring 

 by this means of something of " the living, breathing spirit of re- 

 search "—of going beyond the boundaries of Imowledge, presents the 

 field in a new light and is one of the greatest sources of stimulation 

 to young men. 



"While the chief purpose of this plan is usually educational, the im- 

 mediate advantages to the station work are not to be overlooked. In 

 an increasing number of institutions graduate students are being 

 utilized in conducting the station investigations, and in some in- 

 stances this is looked upon as an economical means of securing as- 

 sistance. Some have gone so far as to divide their main theme or 

 project into various parts which can be worked out independently 

 and assigned to advanced students to be conducted under the general 

 direction of the leader of the project. The real advantage of this 

 to the station depends largely on the nature of the subject and on the 

 men assigned to it. The right kind of graduate assistants may be a 

 real help, as has often been found to be the case, but instances have 

 also occurred in which men well recommended by other institutions 

 have proved disappointing as graduate assistants. 



Evidently the station work must not be contingent upon this type 

 of service, or subordinated in any sense to the purpose of teaching. 

 It is based on the plan of the university in making pro\dsion for 

 graduate work, and it is well recognized as largely a phase of the 

 teaching activity. As a teaching function the responsibility for it 

 should rest usually with the college or university, and for that rea- 

 son doubtless the college has in specific instances provided the fellow- 

 ships. Unless there is some direct advantage or aid to the station, 

 it will rarely be able to do more than a quite limited amount in this 

 direction. But the community of interest among the stations in 

 promoting more thorough preparation of men for research work 

 makes efforts of this kind worth encouraging. 



The salary attractions in other directions, especially under the 

 development of the extension work, make the recruiting of the sta- 

 tion staffs more difficult and present real obstacles in the way of 

 inducing men to take long and expensive courses in preparation for 

 research activity. The need of arousing zeal for creative work and 

 the encouragement of promising young men in preparing for it can 

 hardly escape the attention of the stations at this time. 



The opportunities of the Graduate School Avere again referred to 

 in the report of the committee on graduate study, and it was urged 



